Kovac & co delighted with Karetsas, will give him time Coach Niko Kovac took Konstantinos Karetsas by the arm, then gave him a light pat and a friendly look on his way to the bench. The new signing had received repeated rounds of applause from the fans for individual moments. Only the crossbar denied him a goal, and only a strong save with his foot by the opposing goalkeeper prevented him from getting a direct assist (for Samuele Inacio). Even so, he was involved in both BVB goals against Roma: before Julian Ryerson made it 1:2, he played the second-to-last pass; for Serhou Guirassy’s 2:2, he was involved in a free-kick dummy. “You could see the composure he has on the ball,” Kovac praised the 18-year-old, also taking pleasure in “what it means to have someone who can draw one or two players toward him and free up others as a result. And he has really good vision.” Sporting director Ole Book also noted: “He showed a lot of things, brought a lot of joy into the game, and he was a goal threat. It was a good game from him.”
Karetsas is capable of helping right away, no question. But he will not be able to play 60 matches for club and country. “We will all still be very happy with him, but we also have to say very clearly: he still needs time. He certainly won’t be able to play 90 minutes every three days; he doesn’t have that in the tank,” said Kovac, adding: “And we also have to be careful not to push him into an injury. But if he plays the way he played today, then we’re all very happy.” In the end, Kovac was also “very happy” with the two most recent friendlies at Arsenal FC (3:2 win) and against AS Roma (2:2). “So I’m very satisfied,” he said for the record, and his facial expression said no different: “We created a lot of chances again today. That increases the likelihood that we’ll win games.” Defensive stability still needs intensive work — and that does not apply only to the back line, where three potential regular starters, Emre Can, Waldemar Anton and Nico Schlotterbeck, were unavailable. But everyone knows: that is Kovac’s core strength. With a grin, he said to a reporter: “If we had kept a clean sheet now and only won 1:0, you would have said: Yeah, Niko, that wasn’t much either. But now it’s the other way around …”Boris Rupert This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.